The desert pays Palm Beach a visit

Yes, the Saharan dust arrived overnight and is expected to hang around until Saturday. It’s been the talk of the town. I noticed a couple of people walking around downtown West Palm Beach in desert boots.

It was the topic du jour on the National Weather Service’s Miami Facebook page. One reader wrote: “The biggest problem with this is the Saharan flesh-eating dust mites that are probably clinging to the dust headed toward the East Coast.”

To which another replied: “Thanks! Now I have to get into my anti flesh eating dust mite gear before I go to work!”

Another said: “Isn’t there really kind of a dusty dry ‘smell’? That’s what I’m remembering from the last time”

A NWS forecaster explained: “Honestly I don’t recall noticing a smell, but that’s not to mean it hasn’t or can’t happen. Some people notice subtle changes in smell more than others. A possibility is that SAL episodes are usually accompanied by atmospheric stability which can trap surface-based pollutants closer to the ground.”

The dust is actually suspended in the air about 5,000 feet up. It doesn’t usually settle to the ground but it can happen “very rarely,” a NWS forecaster said. “The main impact of the Saharan dust, besides a hazy or milky appearance to the sky, is a slightly higher concentration of particulates in the low levels of the atmosphere which could be noticeable to folks susceptible to these changes.”

A tropical wave now moving into Puerto Rico should push the dust out of South Florida over the weekend. Palm Beach may be on the northern fringes of the precipitation. There are also a few showers in the Bahamas that may work their way west.